A Heart in Ruins
by Shadow Oblivion
Summary: Riku thought he had left the darkness far behind, but soon realizes that ridding himself completely of it may have dire consequences to those he cares about.
1. Dark Tidings

This is the intro of a story that I've been wanting to post for awhile. It takes place after KH2. Let me know what you think of it, if you could. I'd appreciate it.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from KH2 unfortunately.

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Darkness. Endless darkness.

Crushing waves of despair and hopelessness. The depths of an eternal abyss full of pain and agony.

What was this feeling? It was familiar…too familiar. And his senses…they were being overwhelmed by it. It was darkness. A force he thought he had put behind him.

Eyes flickered open, taking in no other sight than the darkest night. The eyes belonged to a silver-haired teen, who surveyed his surroundings nervously. The teen, Riku, was currently trying to figure out where in the world he was. The last thing he remembered was falling asleep in his bedroom.

Riku cast his gaze side to side warily. Unable to see anything, he _was_ able to feel wispy tendrils of darkness flowing lazily around him. Where _was _he? It was...unnerving him.

Darkness. Endless darkness.

But…hadn't he chased away the darkness? What was going on? What was it doing in his dreams?

"Riku."

Riku spun about, squinting through the darkness, as if he'd be able to see something that hadn't been there before. The voice sounded disturbingly familiar.

"Riku."

The voice was louder this time, and had a low tone to it. And it had come from a different direction.

Riku turned again, realization sinking in. It was Ansem! Or rather, Xehanort's Heartless. But that didn't make any sense. Hadn't he defeated and gotten rid of him before? Riku shook his head. "This is a dream. You're gone," Riku murmured more to himself, fairly confident in his statement. This just _had_ to be a nightmare.

Ansem a.k.a. Xehanort's Heartless, laughed, "Is that what you really think?"

Riku twisted around again. He was still all alone in the dark. Where was the voice coming from? Was he just hearing things?

Ansem seemed to have read Riku's mind, "You're not hearing things…" Ansem suddenly appeared in front of Riku a few feet away, smiling evilly.

Riku instantly attempted to move away, but it was in vain. No matter how much Riku tried, Ansem seemed to be getting closer and closer, closing the gap of darkness between them.

"Stay back! Keep away from me!" This wasn't happening.

Ansem continued to approach slowly, seeming to enjoy the other's discomfort, "You will never escape me…" He reached out a hand towards the immobilized teen…

121

Riku awoke with a gasp, bolting upright in bed. Glancing around wildly, Riku let out a low, shaky laugh. It had just been a dream after all...more like a nightmare though...

Riku stood up and stretched, and began to pace around his room. Since he had gone to bed in his regular clothes, Riku decided that he was too high strung and nervous to go back to bed. There was no _way _he could go back to sleep after that dream. Especially since now, at the moment, Ansem was popping into his mind with that creepy molester smile.

Riku held back a shudder, again telling himself that it had all just been a dream. Looking around his room once more, Riku shook his head and left through a window.

Once outside in the cool night breeze, Riku passed by other homes, every occupant more than likely asleep with peaceful dreams. Riku sighed miserably as he headed for the shoreline. So many things had happened over the past few years, but now, everything was pretty much back to normal.

He, however, was having the hardest time adjusting back to island life. Again, he felt as though he was trapped, but was learning to deal with it. There was no way he would give into the darkness again, not even to escape to other worlds. Even though it was tempting, Riku knew nothing good would come from it.

Riku paused in his walk, before heading over to the docks, were many small boats were anchored. Riku unbound one of the boats, and paddled over to the island where he, Sora and Kairi had built a raft over two years ago.

Sora and Kairi...

Those two were acting as though nothing had ever happened. It probably helped them adjust back to regular life...

Riku arrived at the island, and, after securing the boat to the island's dock, hopped off and wandered along the shore. The breeze was slowly claming his nerves, but Riku was still on edge for some reason. The peaceful night was helping to offset the feeling...

"Riku."

The silver-haired teen lost his nerve when he heard his name being spoken. It sounded like Ansem. Riku dashed over to a shack and locked himself inside, his heart racing. It took several minutes for him to clam down. After awhile, Riku huddled down in a corner of the shack with a shuddering sigh.

His imagination had to be playing tricks on him. What was he so worried about? Nothing bad had happened after returning to the island. Only his dreams.

_'It was just a dream...nothing more.'_ Riku thought to himself wearily, again trying to convince himself that Xehanort's Heartless was gone. Riku had been having constant nightmares involving Ansem since he returned to his island home after defeating Xemnas with Sora. But lately, the dreams were becoming longer, more nerve racking, and worst of all, more and more real.

Riku finally began to doze off, many other worries plaguing his mind, none of which he could focus on.

All he knew was that Ansem seemed to be getting closer and closer to him.

And as he finally drifted off, he heard what sounded like Ansem laughing.

Riku didn't know what to do, and wasn't sure that telling Sora or Kairi about his dreams would help.

And that was what scared him the most as he drifted back into dreams of endless darkness, and the looming presence of someone he thought he had banished away.


	2. Concerns

Earlier…

Riku wasn't the only one who was up late at night. In a house near Riku's, a brown haired teen, Sora, woke up about an hour before Riku.

Sora gazed up at his bedroom ceiling with a bored, sleepy look. Why had he woken up? It was still dark out…Shrugging, Sora got out of bed and stretched. Well, he was awake now, and didn't feel like going back to bed anytime soon. Sora walked over to his bedroom window and looked outside.

There were only a few more hours left until dawn…

Sora snuck out of his bedroom, walked down some stairs, and managed to sneak out of his house without waking anyone. Sora decided to go and see if Kairi was awake as well. She lived right next door after all.

Sora halted next to the side of the house, glancing up at the balcony that connected to Kairi's bedroom. Sure enough, the red-haired teen, Kairi, was awake, leaning against the railing, and seemed to be lost in thought.

"Kairi," Sora called up in as quiet a voice as he could muster.

Kairi jumped and looked around in surprise. Then, her confusion turned into amusement as she looked down and spotted Sora. She smiled at him, "Hi Sora. You couldn't sleep either?"

Sora ran a hand through his hair, "No, I couldn't." He paused, and then asked, "You want to go for a walk along the shore?"

Kairi smile brightly, "Sure, wait just a minute," She disappeared into her bedroom.

Sora waited around for a few minutes, before Kairi finally exited her home quietly, "What took so long?"

"I had to change," Kairi answered, as if this were obvious.

It was then that Sora noticed that Kairi had changed from pajamas into her day wear, "Oh…err…right. Well, let's go." He and Kairi strode off, passing homes in silence until they got to the shoreline.

For nearly an hour, Sora and Kairi walked along the shoreline slowly, talking about events that had happened the day before, such as Tidus getting smacked in the head by Wakka's blitzball. This had been the source of amusement for hours. The topics, however, soon turned to Riku.

"Sora…have you talked to Riku lately?" Kairi questioned all of a sudden, glancing sideways at Sora.

Sora was silent for a moment, "Well…yeah, it's just…he seems to be more distant than usual…"

"Then maybe there's something bothering him, "Kairi commented, gazing up at the starry night sky.

"You think?" Sora wondered.

"Maybe…he's having trouble getting used to island life again. You know how much he hated being in this 'small world?' Especially now, after we know there are other worlds…" Kairi said softly.

"You don't think Riku would try and use darkness to get away from here..." Sora began, before shaking his head, "…No, as much as he'd like to leave, I don't think Riku would do that again…"

"You're right, he wouldn't. Maybe that's why Riku's been withdrawn and depressed lately…" Kairi broke off, something in the distant catching her eyes.

"What is it?" Sora questioned, following Kairi's gaze.

They saw Riku paddling a small boat towards the island they used to play on.

"Do you…think he's all right?" Kairi asked, concerned.

Sora shook his head, "I don't know…want to follow him? See what's bothering him?"

Kairi appeared uncertain, but nodded her head in agreement. She and Sora headed for the dock where other small boats were.

121

Endless darkness…again…

Riku had his eyes open, but that didn't do him much good. He still couldn't see anything other than the dark.

"Riku."

Ansem again…

"Leave me alone!" Riku snarled angrily, looking around warily.

"You can't escape the darkness Riku."

The voice was teasing him now.

"I thought I already had," Riku retorted, glaring around in the darkness now.

"You won't give in without a fight, will you?" Ansem sounded weary.

"I will never give in!" Riku responded. He _really_ wanted to slash his Keyblade around in the darkness with the chance of striking Ansem…but…he found that he could barely move. Why was that?

"If you'd just accept the darkness again, then you would be able to move freely," Ansem told Riku calmly, appearing in front of him suddenly.

Great. He was a mind reader too. What the hell was up with that? Riku twisted and turned, trying to back away.

Ansem approached him slowly, as if enjoying every moment, "Don't bother…you can't escape me."

Riku closed his eyes, stubbornly trying to move. There was no _way _Ansem would use him again…

121

"Riku! Wake up!"

"Riku! Are you all right?"

Riku awoke abruptly, glancing up in surprise. Sora and Kairi were looking down at him, worry etched on both their faces.

"What are you…doing here?" Riku questioned. What in the world were they doing up so late in the night? Though…he was very grateful for having been awakened from his nightmare.

"I couldn't get back to sleep, so I went over to Kairi's house. She was up too," Sora began to explain.

"We went for a walk, but we saw you headed for the island. We decided to follow you," Kairi added.

Riku stared up at them in silence. He declined to ask them how long they'd been walking. Instead, he said, "Well, now that you're here…what do you want?" Wow, that came out differently than he meant it to. Great going Riku. Way to sound fine.

"We just wanted to see if you were okay," Kairi responded, as Sora nodded in agreement.

Riku looked down at the ground. On the outside, he could usually manage to look 'okay.' But…on the inside, he was far from it. Five or six nights out of the week he would awake several times from nightmares. Even in the daytime he couldn't escape.

"Riku…don't space out on us man," Came Sora's voice. He was poking Riku's head, "Earth to Riku, you there?"

Riku batted Sora's hand away irritably, "What? I'm fine…I…I was just thinking."

Sora sat down a few feet away, grinning, "Sure you are."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Riku questioned, scrunching up defensively.

Kairi sat down next to Sora, "We're just worried about you…so are other people on the island."

"Really…?" Riku asked, staring at the ground again. So…it wasn't just his two best friends that were worried about him. Other people were too. That was nice to know. Riku heard Kairi speak again.

"Wakka, Tidus, and Selphie keep wondering if you're all right. They said you kept declining to play or fight with them, when you and Sora used to a lot," Kairi explained, stealing a glance at Riku.

When he didn't say anything, Sora spoke, "A few parents are noticing too. But they just think it's a phase or something like that."

Riku smiled lightly at this. A 'phase' indeed. Was it _normal _to have recurring nightmares about a man that wanted to take over your body and wreak havoc on other worlds? Riku shook his head absently. No, it _wasn't _normal. No one else had dreams as vivid and real as his. Not even Sora and Kairi. They hadn't gone through as much as he had. They hadn't been lost to the darkness as much as he had been. They hadn't had their bodies taken over by another person who was bent on destroying things.

They didn't understand. They never would.

However…

"Riku! You're spacing out again." Came Sora's voice.

"What's wrong?" Kairi asked, worried.

Riku broke out from his thoughts to see Kairi and Sora's concerned expressions. He forced a small smile, "Sorry…I've been thinking a lot…since we got back to the islands…"

Sora flopped down onto his stomach, regaining his goofy smile, "Well…from the letter we got from King Mickey, we might be able to leave here every once and awhile to help stomp out the remaining Heartless in other worlds."

"Oh yeah…" Riku responded. He had forgotten all about the letter, instead focusing on the nightmares. Destroying Heartless would be a great way to release some of the pent-up energy and tension he felt.

"And this time, I get to go too. I still haven't met some of the people you've made friends with," Kairi said, smiling sweetly at Sora, but in a way that was daring him to argue.

Sora didn't say anything, but looked worried. He didn't want anything to happen to her again. Sora looked at Riku pleadingly, since he himself couldn't change Kairi's mind.

Getting the hint, Riku spoke to Kairi, while thinking that Sora was a wuss, "Are you sure you want to go? Even though there are less Heartless, that doesn't make it any safer."

Elbowing Sora a bit roughly, Kairi smiled at Riku, "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine," She paused, and then added with a serious expression, "You and Sora better leave some Heartless for me to deal with."

Riku shrugged apologetically to Sora, who didn't seem too happy with how the matter was resolved.

Kairi yawned and stretched, "We should go home and try to get some sleep. Maybe we'll find another letter."

Sora stretched as well, jumping to his feet, "C'mon Riku. You look tired too." He helped Kairi to her feet, both of them exiting the shack.

Riku stood up, but paused. Again, Sora and Kairi were acting as though they hadn't gone through anything life-changing, but somewhere, deep inside, there had to be something. Perhaps they were just better at moving on and dealing with tough times, etc.

"Riku! Come on!"

Riku left the shack, trailing after Sora and Kairi, who were headed for the dock. At least they didn't judge him. They acted as though he were the Riku who had been looking forward to journeying to different worlds. Riku paused, looking over at the leafy entrance of the Secret Place.

"Riku?"

Riku cast a glance over at the docks. Sora and Kairi were waving from their boats. He waved back, "You get going, and I'll follow you in a second!" With that, Riku walked over to the cave entrance and entered it. Pacing the entire place, Riku stopped momentarily to stare at the depictions of Sora and Kairi sharing a papou fruit. Shaking his head in amusement, Riku focused his attention on the door at the back of the cave, looking all innocent. Riku narrowed his eyes at it, before turning and heading for the exit.

"Riku."

Riku spun about, summoning his Keyblade at the same time and facing where the voice had come from. He backed up a few steps.

Ansem was standing there, in front of the door, staring at him.

No words were exchanged.

Riku lunged at Ansem, swinging his blade…which went through the other without inflicting any injuries. Undaunted, Riku tried again, but with similar results. And Ansem merely stood there, smiling evilly.

"You can not hurt me Riku. Why don't you just give up? Things will go more smoothly that way."

"Never!" Riku snapped, backtracking and fleeing out the cave entrance. He had to be imagining things. He was sleep deprived…that was all.

Behind him, Ansem remained where he was. He folded his arms, "Fine. Resist. But you can not deny me forever…soon…you will submit…" With a laugh, Ansem vanished.

121

Riku forced himself to walk towards the dock, keeping his face devoid of any emotion other than weariness. He was having a hard time not imagining Ansem following after him. But when he got into the boat and began to paddle after Sora and Kairi (who were nice enough to let him catch up) he felt as if a great weight had been lifted.

121

Once back on the main island, Sora and Kairi split paths with Riku, who had said he wanted to walk along the shoreline by himself for a little while. Before Riku could leave, he agreed to meet back on the other island late in the morning, to scrounge the shoreline for any potential letters.

Sora and Kairi watched Riku get smaller and smaller as he walked away. When they could no longer see him, the silence was broken.

"Do you really think he's all right?" Kairi asked softly.

Sora let out a small sigh. He didn't know what to think of his friends' behavior. "…" shaking his head, he began to walk towards the houses, "Come on Kairi, I'll take you home. Hopefully no one will have noticed that we were gone…"

"Sora! What are you doing out this late at night?!"

"Uh-oh, my mom." Sora glanced around quickly, before turning to Kairi, "Better get home before she sees you!"

Kairi nodded, and ran off, but hid nearby, smothering giggles as Sora got a stern lecture from his mother about not running off late in the night to engage in teenage outings. Kairi snuck off after seeing Sora blush deeply. Kairi arrived at her home moments later, living next door after all. Getting back into the house went smoothly, and Kairi was able to get in bed before anyone noticed that she had been gone.

121

Riku closed his eyes briefly as he walked along the shore, heading to his home at a slow pace. Riku opened his eyes again and stared blankly at the ground for a minute or so. For some reason, he felt more at ease when he was around Sora and Kairi. This seemed to make sense, because now that he was out of their company, anxiety and uncertainty returned to him. It was if he had woken up from a nightmare again.

Riku shook his head stubbornly and finished his stroll, ending up outside his house. Standing still to make sure that he heard no movement, Riku managed to get back up to his window, and back into his bedroom. Once inside, Riku headed straight to his bed, only wanting to flop down onto it and fall asleep.

A sudden chill caused Riku to stop, and the feeling caused him to look around his room suspiciously. He was alone…but…he felt as if someone were watching him. Riku walked over to his closet and opened it, peering inside. Nothing but clothing…

Riku crossed back over to his bed, and looked underneath it. Nothing. Riku shook his head. He was being stupid. Why did he think Ansem would be hiding in either of those places?

Riku slumped onto his bed and covered himself with a blanket. Closing his eyes wearily, he reminded himself again that he had defeated Ansem, and that his nightmares had been a result of him being too anxious and now, paranoid. Oh, and the hallucinations were due to sleep deprivation.

Feeling better after telling himself that, Riku drifted to sleep. He would have rethought everything and vacated the area if he had heard the sinister laugh issuing softly from the closet, along with his name.

"Riku."

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I update this sooner than I thought, so thanks to Polish and StarShinobi for motivating me to put up the next chapter. Am I the only one who would think it's creepy for a laugh to be coming out of a closet? Anyway...how did this chapter go? I'll try to update this when I can.

So...until next time thank you for reading and/or reviewing!


	3. Distractions

Hey, I'm finally updating this. Thanks to Polish and StarShinobi for reviewing. I appreciate it. I would have updated sooner, but, ahem, I lost my outline for a few months. Anyway...here's the next chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Kingdom Hearts (2).

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Endless darkness…once more…

Riku opened his eyes wearily and peered around in the darkness, uneasiness as well as anger evident in his voice, "You know…this is really getting old. Why don't you just leave me alone already? I'll never give in. This is just a waste of time."

Somewhere in the sea of darkness, Ansem laughed mockingly at Riku. It pleased him to hear the nervousness in the other's voice. It made him all the more vulnerable. It wouldn't take many more of these nights before he'd gain control over the other. Ansem watched as Riku attempted to move, but all attempts failed. He laughed again.

"Fool, you can not resist forever. It would be easier for you to give in and obey me."

Riku ceased his struggles momentarily as he seethed angrily, furious that he couldn't see the man tormenting him, "Never!"

Ansem let out a horrible laugh, sending a chill through the teen immobilized before him, "Think that as long as you wish, boy. I will never disappear, and your will should not be too hard to break. After all, you still fear the darkness." Ansem suddenly appeared not too far from Riku.

"You're wrong, I'm not afraid! You will disappear! I already defeated you before! Leave me be!" Riku snarled angrily, backing away slowly. He could barely move, yet it was better than last time…but…if he was dreaming, then why couldn't he move very well? Shouldn't he be able to move freely in his own dreams?

"It is past experiences that keep you from being able to move as you wish. You see, at first you were unable to move in darkness until you accepted it. If you want to find yourself able to move again, then all you need to do is accept the darkness again...and me." Ansem commented calmly, ignoring the fact that Riku had managed to summon his Keyblade, The Way to Dawn.

Riku glared hatefully at Ansem as he spoke. He'd had enough of this man and his freakish mind games. "Dreams are just dreams. They can't hurt you…but they can wrap false memories around people…like me…" Riku broke off, applying pressure on his Keyblade until he managed to swing it. In that instant, he was able to move freely.

Riku pointed his Keyblade at Ansem. "I don't need the power of darkness. I was able to move again on my own. This is my dream. You don't have any power here…not anymore."

Ansem stared for a moment, before letting out a sinister laugh, "Is that so? Well…you may have avoided the power of darkness for now…however…" Ansem fell silent and reached out a hand.

Riku felt himself suddenly immobilized again. "W…what?" He couldn't move again? What was going on? But…that was impossible! This was only a dream…wasn't it? Riku glanced up at Ansem, whose lip was curled up in a sneer.

"As I was saying…" Ansem began again smoothly, lowering his hand to his side again, "Don't assume that just because you may be in a dream…it doesn't mean that you can overpower me, or avoid me…" Ansem began to float forward through the darkness, towards the paralyzed Riku.

_'No!'_ Riku struggled wildly against some unseen force that prevented him from moving. This was a very long nightmare. Why hadn't he woken up yet? Unless...this wasn't a dream? A spasm of horror coursed through Riku. It couldn't be! This couldn't be reality!

"Reality can be perceived in many ways Riku," Ansem stated as he continued to approach, "For instance, if you believe that this is real, then in your mind, it will be."

Riku closed his eyes, starting to shake. He was imagining things, and he had to believe that. Ansem was getting to close for comfort._ 'What should I do? What can I do? I'm not waking up!'_ Riku mentally smacked himself. If this was a dream, he shouldn't be able to get hurt…Riku opened his eyes and stared levelly at Ansem. He mustn't be afraid. With a little difficulty, Riku managed to stop himself from shaking.

Ansem halted a foot or so from Riku. He smirked slightly upon Riku staring at him without shaking. Attempting to convince himself that this was a dream, was he? "Useless…" Ansem muttered aloud.

"This is a dream. Leave." Riku growled in a low voice.

Ansem swept a low, mocking bow, "As you wish." He vanished without warning, but his parting words unnerved Riku.

"I will leave you alone, for now. But remember this Riku. No matter how much you struggle and deny it…you liked the darkness. You will never leave its clutches. It's only a matter of time…"

With that Riku was left alone in the dark. A few moments passed before Riku realized that he could move. The Way to Dawn vanished and Riku sunk down to his knees. Why? Why were his dreams so real? Why? What had he done to deserve this?

Riku closed his eyes. He was exhausted. It was beginning to be more difficult to deal with these nightmares…and Ansem…

121

It was morning…the sun heralding the new day, devoid of any darkness. It was another perfectly bright day.

Activity had begun even before the sun had fully risen into view. Families were down at the beach enjoying the pleasant morning. Most relaxed, but in the children's cases, played.

Sora and Kairi met at the docks, chatting as they waited for Riku to join them. No one really bothered them.

Ten minutes passed, before Sora and Kairi were called to from across the sandy beach.

"Hey! Sora! Kairi!"

Said teens turned to find Tidus, Wakka and Selphie walking towards them.

Kairi waved to them as she called back, "Hey you guys!"

Wakka played with a blitzball as he spoke when they were within speaking distance, "So, what are you two up to?"

"Oh, we were planning on going to the island today. We were waiting for Riku." Kairi responded.

"Aw, we were going to play some games and we were looking to form teams," Tidus commented dejectedly, "And we were going to go to a new island too."

"I suppose we'll have to ask others if you three will be busy today. Maybe tomorrow?" Selphie commented.

"Sure...maybe."

"Well, see ya!" Wakka ran off, haranguing random people he passed by to see if they wanted to play a game.

Tidus and Selphie chased after him, saying their good-byes over their shoulders.

"Bye!"

"See you later!"

Kairi laughed as she watched them run off, "They always seem to be in a good mood, don't they?"

"Yeah…"

Kairi cast a sideways glance at her friend, "Sora?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you think Riku is all right?" Kairi asked, concern evident in her voice.

Sora looked at her, "Well…he seems to be doing fine. Something does seem to be something bothering him though…"

"That's what I thought too." Kairi replied, casting a quick glance back to the town.

"Maybe we'll find a letter today. Fighting Heartless might take Riku's mind off things," Sora commented.

"I suppose so…Oh! Riku!" Kairi waved as the silver haired teen approached them.

Sora turned and saw Riku as well, noting that he looked…tired, as if he hadn't had much sleep the night before. Maybe it was just because all of them had been up in the middle of the night. Shaking the thought away for the moment, Sora grinned and waved, "Hey Riku!"

"Hey." Riku even sounded tired, but was able to manage a small smile at the sight of Sora grinning like an idiot. At least Kairi wasn't smiling as widely as the brunette.

"Well, let's go!" Kairi said, running a short distance to the dock and clambering into her boat.

A half hour later…

Sora, Riku and Kairi combed the shoreline, but hadn't found any bottles with messages in them yet. After a few hours of unsuccessful searching, they decided to call off the search for the day. Discouraged, they headed back towards the docks.

Suddenly, Kairi let out a cry and pointed, "Look! Over there!" She ran over to the shore, scooping up a tiny bottle with a message sealed inside it. Kairi got it out of the bottle somehow, smoothed it out, and read it aloud.

'_We've found a way to cross into other worlds. But that means that the Heartless have too. We need some help, so a Gummi ship should be there soon._

_ -Mickey'_

Sora summoned his Keyblade and waved it around, "All right!"

"Stop being such a kid Sora." Riku said teasingly. He grinned when Sora pouted and gave him a hurt expression. Sora was so easy to infuriate. It was funny.

Any argument Sora was about to throw back at Riku vanished by the sudden arrival of a Gummi ship.

Kairi ran over to it, calling over her shoulder, "Come on you two! Let's go!"

Riku and Sora exchanged glances, before following after Kairi. After some shoving, Sora claimed the pilot seat, while Riku and Kairi sat in the back seats. Riku looked as though he wanted to argue about the current seating arrangements, but decided it was useless. Sora looked extremely happy to be back in a Gummi ship. Ansem was driven from Riku's mind for the moment as he laughed along with Kairi at Sora having difficulty starting up the ship.

Back on the island, soft laughter rang out that didn't quite reach the gummi ship.

"Run then, Riku. But no matter where you go, I will always be there. And will be until I am able to be free again."

121

Back on the Gummi ship, Riku couldn't explain why he shuddered all of a sudden. But since neither of his friends noticed, he brushed it off. It must have been his imagination.

Or so he hoped.

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And end of chapter. How was it? I'm trying to keep everyone IC. Hmm...the next chapter'll have more characters in it. So, hopefully I'll be able to update soon, but I really don't know when because of school...

So...until next time, thanks for reading and/or reviewing.


	4. Complications

I'm trying to catch up on some stories, so here's the next chapter. Sorry about the wait.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from the Kingdom Hearts series.

* * *

"Riku."

"Go away," Riku muttered, walking along the dark depths of his dream. He was able to move around unhindered this time, and all Ansem could do was follow him.

In the current dream, Ansem was unable to paralyze Riku. This seemed to irritate Ansem, so he pursued Riku around through the darkness, refusing to leave the teen alone, "Are you afraid, Riku?"

"…"

"…Then why do you avoid me? If you don't fear me, then turn and face me."

Riku paused in his walk, but didn't turn, "…I'm not afraid of you…I just don't want to see you, that's all. Now leave me alone." With that, Riku resumed walking. He really didn't like how long his dreams were turning out to be. It was already bad enough that Ansem was in it…and wouldn't leave.

Ansem continued to follow Riku, but had fallen silent. All he was doing now was eying Riku's back with an unreadable expression.

Riku got the chills all of a sudden, but ignored it. There had to be something other than the darkness in his dreams. There _had_ to be.

A ripple seemed to go through the darkness. Something had changed.

Riku continued to walk, apparently not having noticed anything out of the ordinary.

Ansem, however, seemed to become uncomfortable and uneasy.

121

"Riku! We're here!"

"Come on, get up sleepy head!"

Riku's eyes flickered open, and he focused on Kairi and Sora, who were leaning over him and looking worried.

"What?" Riku wondered, as he sat up straighter in the chair he was on.

Sora shook his head, "It's nothing…let's go." Offering a smile, Sora turned and hurried out of the gummi ship.

"Are you all right?" Kairi asked, backing up to allow Riku to stand.

Riku was silent a moment, staring at Kairi, who stood waiting patiently. Riku shook his head, letting a small smile pass across his features, "I'm fine, really. Just haven't been getting a lot of sleep."

Kairi still looked concerned, but nodded and went out of the gummi ship after Sora, who could be heard from outside, talking excitedly.

Riku shook his head, before following after his friends. There was no use worrying about Ansem, as the man was only in his dreams. Not in reality, which was the way it would stay.

121

Hallow Bastion or Radiant Garden, depending on who you talked to, was on it's way to getting back to normal after it's run in with the Heartless. Though that didn't mean the town didn't have a few Heartless now and then to be dealt with.

"So, Sora, where are we meeting the others?" Kairi asked after a few minutes of walking past the town's shops.

"Merlin's house. Leon and the others should be there." Sora responded after a moment or so of thought.

"Where's that?" Kairi asked, glancing around.

"Oh! It's this way." Sora led the way past the shops and to the wizard's home.

Riku trailed after Sora and Kairi, feeling slightly nervous and uncomfortable. He knew King Mickey, but other than that, he didn't know anyone they were going to meet. Come to think of it, neither did Kairi, but why then, did he feel so nervous?

Sora finally found the house and knocked one the door. He stood back as he waited for someone to answer. Sora didn't have to wait long, as the door was quickly answered by a smiling Yuffie.

"Hey guys! Took you long enough to get here. Come on in!" Yuffie told Sora cheerfully, flashing a smile past him at Kairi and Riku.

Sora entered the house after returning Yuffie's smile, followed by Kairi and a somewhat apprehensive Riku. Was she always so cheerful?

Leon and Cid were next to the computer, while Yuffie, Aerith and Merlin were closer to the door.

Sora glanced around at those in the house, then asked, "Where's Cloud?"

"Who knows? Probably off fighting Sephiroth or something," Cid commented, briefly glancing up from the computer at Sora.

The statement started up an argument between Tifa and Cid, one which Riku decided he didn't want to get involved with. He backed away toward the house entryway to wait and see if the argument would die down soon.

"Hello, Riku."

Riku startled slightly as he turned around, relaxing slightly when he saw that it was only King Mickey, "Hi…" Riku responded, while mentally smacking himself for even thinking it could have been Ansem.

Mickey looked up at Riku, a concerned look on his face, "You okay, Riku?"

Riku smiled faintly, "Me? I'm fine…just a bit tired, that's all." Liar, a little voice in the back of Riku's mind said. Why didn't you just tell the truth? About how Ansem has been haunting your dreams?

"Your Majesty!" Came Sora's excited voice.

Hi!" Mickey said, turning his attention to Sora and Kairi, "How are you?"

Sora smiled, "Great!" Sora's smile faded a bit as he asked, "But what's going on? I thought the Heartless had been taken care of."

"Well…the Heartless seem to have found a way to get into other worlds. There have been calls for help from lots of people!" Mickey explained.

"Hmm…oh, hey! Where are Donald and Goofy?" Sora asked, realizing that he hadn't seen either of them.

"They're taking care of the Heartless back at the castle. I cam here to tell you guys to break up into two groups, and to be ready to leave when we receive the next distress call." Mickey turned, and left Merlin's house, "I'm in a bit of a hurry. Good luck!"

There was a moment of silence, then…

"Sora, you and your friends can be one group. Myself, Yuffie and Tifa can be the other," Leon informed Sora.

"Right!"

"Hey! Here's a call...Sora! Take the gummi ship and head to Twilight Town," Cid said suddenly, "We'll contact you when you're done there."

"Let's go!" Kairi exclaimed, rushing out of the house with Sora and Riku chasing after her.

"Hey! Wait for us!"

121

Upon arriving at Twilight Town, the three had their hands full with fending off Heartless. The good thing was that the bystanders either fled or hid themselves, which made dealing with the Heartless much easier.

Riku was distracted, however, as he couldn't shake off the feeling that something bad was going to happen, even though he shouldn't be worrying, since the Heartless number were so few.

Night time…

Sora bounced up and down on a bed in one of the Twilight Town inns. He stopped and grinned across the room at Riku, who was lying prone on another bed.

Riku wondered why Sora had so much energy after all of the Heartless they fought that day. It made him even more tired watching the other, so he decided to go to bed. "Sora…go to bed already. It's late." Riku rolled over and under the bed covers, almost able to see the pout that had appeared on Sora's face.

"…Fine." Sora said in a dejected voice, flopping down onto the bed again after turning out the room's lights.

There was some silence, before footsteps could be heard.

"Sora, could you come out here for a minute?"

It was Kairi. Sora rolled out of bed and exited the room.

Riku heard their quiet voice, before Sora poked his head back into the room, "Kairi said I need to patrol the streets for a few hours. We'll come wake you up in the morning. Kairi thought that you should get some sleep." With that, Sora exited the room, shutting the door after him.

Riku rolled over onto his back and stared at the ceiling. He was tired, but he didn't want to to go to sleep. What if he couldn't escape from his dreams? Riku fought a short battle to stay awake, but soon drifted off, unable to deny sleep anymore. He really did need it.

It just turned out that it was a bad idea.

121

Darkness once more, although it seemed to be getting darker…more oppressive. The crushing weight seemed to be trying to pound Riku into submission.

Riku looked around, gritting his teeth. The feeling he had right now was unnerving and unwanted. What was Ansem up to? This was nothing like he had experienced in his previous dreams. "Show yourself, Ansem! What are you doing?"

"I'm in a bad mood," Ansem answered smoothly as he appeared a few feet in front of Riku.

Riku gazed coolly at him, but didn't say anything.

Ansem smiled faintly, as he shrugged, "It's getting rather boring in here." Ansem reached out a hand and watched some tendrils of darkness pass over it, "It's like this because I tire of being here, waiting."

Riku did not like the odd gleam in Ansem's eyes. He summoned forth The Way to Dawn once he realized what Ansem was hinting at, "There's no way you're taking control of my body again!"

Ansem approached Riku with a laugh as he spoke, "You don't have any choice."

The fight that happened was short and pathetic, owing to the fact that the darkness hindered Riku. He lay on the ground he couldn't see, not knowing where Ansem had gone.

"This is only temporary, unfortunately. We'll have to fight every night until one of us gives up." Then, there was silence.

Riku, too weary to figure out what had just happened, fell unconscious, even though it was a dream…it was, wasn't it?

121

Sora knocked on the inn's bedroom door early in the morning, "Hey Riku! You awake?" Sora peered into the room and saw Riku giving him a groggy, annoyed look, "Oh, I woke you up." Seeing Riku nod, Sora exited the room, "Well, get dressed and come down for breakfast."

Riku waited until Soar was out of earshot, before laughing softly in a way that wasn't normal, "Didn't even notice." Then he thought, _'See? I told you that he wouldn't notice. This will be entertaining.'_

Ansem was in control, and exited the room, keeping Riku's appearance, while in his mind; Riku could only curse angrily at Ansem.

This was not good.

* * *

I had an idea of where this was going, but it'll take some time to write more. So, it'll be awhile for the next chapter to be put up. I would like to finish this story sometime.


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